Catching Smoke
by imthepunchlord
Summary: Chat's on the prowl for the mysterious Red Shadow, curious to see who she is. But catching her is like catching smoke.


Chat stopped, ears perked up, his gleaming green eyes sliding along the roofs. He looked over each shadow carefully, trying to find his prey. But she was good at hiding, and had easily blended in with the darkness around her. That, that just seemed to be her power, disappearing in seconds.

It's been frustrating.

He frowned, annoyed.

Where could she be?

He could understand why she fled and hid away.

When Ladybug saw her, she had attacked no questions asked, assuming she was another akuma.

And of course, that costed this stranger to not trust them, disappearing from sight in a moment's notice.

Personally, Chat wanted to talk to the "Red Shadow" (as named by Kim and Alix who are huge fans of this mysterious vigilante). He didn't feel like she was trouble, despite what Ladybug thought. She's actually been a big help these past few weeks, distracting akumas, helping everyone escape. Sometimes, though rare, even catching the tainted butterflies herself and leaving them for Ladybug to find in small jars.

Though, he could agree, it is very unnerving knowing that someone out there knew who Ladybug was.

That first butterfly they got...

It took a good few days for him to calm down, no one charging his friend Alya for the big reveal of her being Ladybug.

But that left the question of how Red Shadow knew it was her.

And just where did she come from?

He... he had a thought.

A hopeful thought.

For, what were the chances?

If anyone knew who Alya could be, it could be the first Ladybug; as Plagg puts her, his true Ladybug.

But, Plagg had dashed that idea away.

 _"The ladybug miraculous could've been returned to the Guardian, and he chose someone else."_

For there had to be a ladybug... sadly one that didn't fit with him...

But, still, there, there was a chance that Red Shadow could be his true ladybug. The mysterious, nervous girl that had disappeared. That had been too pressured.

He wondered if he stopped to be more supportive, if she would've stayed. If they would be the team they're meant to be, perfectly in sync and balancing out each other.

Only they weren't.

He shook his head, sighing as he stood, arms crossed as he glared out.

He was hopeful that if he could've found her tonight, alone with no tense Ladybug to make Red Shadow nervous, that maybe she would talk to him but...

It seems she disappeared.

Again.

He lost his prey.

He was a disappointing cat and hunter.

And Plagg wasn't going to let him live this down.

Shoulders slumped, he moved to slip back home, only to stop when he saw a near pigeon eyeballing him. Blinking rapidly at his gaze, it gave a nervous coo. One that sounded a little off to his ears.

And something far more curious.

It was a yard away.

And he wasn't sneezing.

Sometimes his allergies could be bad enough that a bird sitting close could put him into a fit.

And yet this one wasn't.

Chat narrowed his eyes at the bird.

The pigeon twisted it's head about, nervous under his gaze. It jumped up, wings flapping to get away. Chat swung his baton after it, surprised when it broke apart into orange smoke, and a long, scarf like tail streamed out. There was a heavy thud as a figure rolled to a crouch, bright sky blue eyes turning to him, looking over her shoulder.

Chat sucked in a sharp breath, wide eyed at his find.

A fox hero peered back at him, her pupils thin slits like his, her mask was red, making her eyes pop out, with twin black dots above her eyes. Her ears were long and black tipped with white inside them. Her suit was a vibrant red, with black socks on all her limbs, the black going almost all the way up her arms, a white underbelly shaping her front. Her tail was black with a white tip. And a stripe of black went down her back, connecting to the tail. Her hair was a dark brunette, almost black, and kept in twin pigtails that were tipped white, and were bound by a ribbon, ribbons that looked like fox tails. The strands hanging around her face and framing her cheeks were also tipped white.

Chat faltered, staring down at her.

She peered at him, frozen and cautious.

Then she offered a tight smile, lightly calling out, "Congratulations Chat Noir, you caught this fox!"

He straightens, blinking at her. "Uh, lucky," he murmurs back.

She hums back, slowly standing up and turning to him, her tail curling about behind her, swishing back and forth, twitchy with nerves. She joked, "I guess your bad luck got me."

He leans on his baton, intrigued.

She felt familiar...

He asked, "You're Red Shadow?"

She chuckled. "Technically yes..."

It didn't seem to be her true name, Chat guessed.

He opened his mouth to ask her questions, who she was; was she, was she possibility his true Ladybug? Why didn't she join them? Why did she persist to sneaking around? Surely she knew Ladybug can be very reasonable, and she'd be a welcomed help!

Only, before he could breath a word, his baton went off, alerting him that his partner was calling. He frantically silenced the ring, wincing and knowing he was going to hear about that later. When he looked up, the fox was gone.

* * *

 **A bit of a teaser for myself and for you guys for the fox!Marinette fic. Don't know when it'll come, but wanted to get something for fox!Marinette out there.**


End file.
